1 / 59

ACG & National SMART Grant: Operational Update

This session provides updates on the ACG and National SMART Grant programs, including eligibility requirements, funding updates, and operational concerns. Resources and institutional participation will also be discussed.

mmcgriff
Download Presentation

ACG & National SMART Grant: Operational Update

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Session #5 Operational Update:ACG and National SMART Grant Sue O’Flaherty Kathleen Wicks

  2. Session Agenda ACG, National SMART Grant History School, Student Eligibility Overview Funding Updates Operational Concerns Resources

  3. ACG, National SMART Grant History Higher Education Reconciliation Act (2005)

  4. Program Similarities

  5. Program Differences

  6. ACG: Eligibility Reason Code

  7. ACG: Year in School

  8. National SMART Statistics

  9. National SMART: Year in School

  10. Session Agenda ACG, National SMART Grant History Institution & Student Eligibility Funding Eligibility Updates Operational Issues Resources

  11. Institutional Participation • All schools that participate in Pell Grants and offer an eligible educational program must participate in ACG and National SMART Grants • No new Program Participation Agreement (PPA) • Must review self-identified applicants

  12. Institutional ParticipationReviewing Self-Identified Applicants • ACG Self-Identification results from the CPS are sent to school on the student’s financial record. • A special flat file is sent to the schools containing ACG self-identification responses. • Student Specific information is available using FAA Access.

  13. Institutional Eligibility • For 2006-2007: • Approximately 5400 schools participate in Pell • 3350 Are eligible for ACG • 2603 Have reported to COD

  14. Institutional Eligibility For 2006-2007 • 1944 are eligible for both ACG and National SMART -1348 Have reported to COD

  15. Institutional Eligibility • Offers a 2 or 4 year degree program • Program length in COD System • 5,6,7,8 for ACG • 6,7,8 for National SMART • See School Information, “General” page at COD Web site (cod.ed.gov)

  16. Institutional Eligibility • Based on school program information as reported in the Application for Approval to Participate in Federal Student Financial Aid Programs (See eligcert.ed.gov) • COD Edit 48 “School is Ineligible” returned on student disbursement if school is ineligible • No edit on student program length

  17. Student EligibilityAdditional Criteria • Student may not receive ACG or National SMART Grant concurrently from more than one school. • Student must receive ACG (or National SMART Grant) and Pell Grant from the same award year • For ACG: • HS graduation after 1/1/06 (ACG Level 1) • HS graduation after 1/1/05 (ACG Level 2)

  18. Transfer Student Eligibility • ACG/National SMART Programs require award information from previously attended schools to properly award transfer students. • Calculation for eligibility used • Where to obtain necessary information

  19. Determining Transfer EligibilityEligibility Used, Total Eligibility Used Beginning in March 2008, Eligibility Used (EU) and Total Eligibility Used (TEU) will be calculated differently for ACG and National SMART Grant • Award Year for Pell • Academic Year Level for ACG and National SMART

  20. Determining Transfer EligibilityEligibility Used, Total Eligibility Used EU% = 100% × Sum of Actual Disbursements of Award ÷ Scheduled Award Amount* TEU% = Sum of all EU%’s at each applicable Academic Year Level** Across Award Years and Schools * Scheduled Award Amount is the maximum award amount by Academic Year Level and Award Year ** The COD System considers Academic Year Levels 0 and 1 to be the same when calculating TEU %

  21. Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility UsedExample 1 A student in Academic Year Level 3 is awarded an 07-08 SMART grant for $3000, $1250 in actual disbursements. EU% = 100% × ($1250 ÷ $4000) = 31.2500%

  22. Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility UsedExample 2 X • The student’s second disbursement would cause EU to equal • EU% = 100% × [($1050 + $3000) ÷ $4000] = 101.2500% A Student in Academic Year Level 4 is awarded an 07-08 SMART grant. However the student’s second disbursement would have caused his actual disbursements to exceed his award amount so the disbursementis rejected with Edit 137.

  23. Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility UsedExample 3 A student has 4 ACG Awards for Academic Year Levels 1 and 2 in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 Award Years. Suppose the Scheduled Grant Amount for ACG is increased 50% from $750 to $1125 for Academic Year Level 1 and from $1300 to $1950 for Academic Year Level 2.

  24. Determining Transfer Eligibility • Now that you know the calculation….. Where can you obtain the information you need? • ISIR • COD to NSLDS • COD

  25. Determining Transfer EligibilityISIR Record • NSLDS Data Elements added/changed for ACG and National SMART Grant • Scheduled Award • % Eligibility Used by Scheduled Award • Total % Eligibility Used by Academic Year Level • Award Year • “School Year” label changed to “Academic Year Level”

  26. Determining Transfer Eligibility – COD to NSLDS • Award Year • OPEID • Transaction Number • Award Amount • Amount Paid to Date • Date Posted to COD • Academic Year Level • Award ID

  27. Determining Transfer Eligibility – COD to NSLDS • ACG Eligible Payment Reason Code • ACG High School Program Code • Major CIP Code • Scheduled Award • Percent Eligibility Used • Total Eligibility Used

  28. Determining Transfer EligibilityNSLDS

  29. Transfer Student Monitoring • NSLDS will monitor changes made by other institutions to ACG/National SMART Grants and alert the informing school. • Monitoring is across award years • Changes made to any one of the following will trigger an alert: • Award Amount • Amount Paid to date (Disbursement Amount) • Latest Disbursement Date

  30. Transfer Student Monitoring • The alert process continues to send schools an alert email notification and the alert data via Web only or Web and Batch. Schools designate the alert method on the School Transfer Profile page setup.

  31. Determining Transfer EligibilityCOD Website

  32. COD Web: Person Information Webpage Percent Eligibility Used Scheduled Award Amount Academic Year Level Total Percent Eligibility Used (Across all Schools, Award Years)

  33. Session Agenda ACG, National SMART Grant History School, Student Eligibility Overview Funding Updates Operational Concerns Resources

  34. Funding: 2006-2007 Total Amount Disbursed As of October 26, 2007

  35. Funding Authorization • ACG & National SMART Grant • NO initial authorization • Funding driven by student disbursement records • When to submit ACG & National SMART Grant records: • 7 Days in advance of disbursement date • 7 days before COD sends funding transaction to GAPS • No Just-In-Time or Pushed Cash methods

  36. Reconciliation & Closeout • For Award Year 2007-2008, Schools SHOULD be reconciled by September 30, 2008 • Must closeout within… • Pell: Five Years • ACG, SMART: Four Years

  37. Post-Deadline Processing • For Award Year 2007-2008: • Occurs After September 30, 2008 • Schools request on the Web • Request only when you are ready to submit • Granted only for unusual circumstances

  38. Underlying Pell Grant Requirement • If student has an ACG or National SMART Grant and is not a Pell recipient, the student will lose the ACG/National SMART Grant • A special deobligation job will be run beginning in Spring 2008

  39. Session Agenda ACG, National SMART Grant History School, Student Eligibility Overview Funding Updates Operational Concerns Resources

  40. Operational Updates For 2007-2008: • Rigorous Secondary Programs of Study, and Eligible Majors Beginning March 2008: • Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility Used for ACG, National SMART Grant • Reports

  41. New High School Program Codes: 2007-2008

  42. New Eligible Majors: 2007-2008

  43. Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility Used • Beginning March 2008, COD will calculate EU and TEU (for all award years). • For ACG and National SMART Grant programs, COD will send, via daily outbound NSLDS file: • Percent Eligibility Used at this School • Total Percent of Eligibility Used • Scheduled Award Amount

  44. Reporting Impacts • Changes in field names and record lengths will impact the following reports for ACG & National SMART Grant: • Multiple Reporting Records • Year-To-Date (Origination) • Year-To-Date (Disbursement) • Field position details can be found in the 2008-2009 COD Technical Reference http://www.ifap.ed.gov/cod/0809CODTechRef.html

  45. Session Agenda ACG, National SMART Grant History School, Student Eligibility Overview Funding Updates Operational Concerns Resources

  46. Citizenship • The inclusion of a Citizenship Status Code in the Person Block is optional • If no Citizenship Status Code is provided in the Person Block, COD will pull the value from CPS • Documentation • Citizenship Status Code must be included if it differs from the value on CPS. For example, if school has accepted documentation that student is a U.S. Citizen AND the CPS contains a different code, school must report a code of “1” in the citizenship status field.

  47. Grade Level Edits • Pulling Grade Level from FAFSA • Must deliberately report grade level!

  48. Edit Statistics: 2006-2007: Both Programs Data accurate as of 9/11/2007.

  49. Edits 56, 58 Preventable - for the most part!

  50. Edits 56, 58

More Related